Travis Kelce cried as he begged Browns to draft him: ‘I will f–king die for this city!'
Well, if he had it his way over a decade ago, that's how his career might have shaken out.
In the lead-up to the 2013 NFL Draft, Kelce met with the Browns and the team's then-head coach, Rob Chudzinski, and made clear he wanted one thing — to be a Cleveland Brown.
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Travis Kelce (87) looks on during the Chiefs' preseason road loss to the Cardinals.
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Kelce, who went to Cleveland Heights High School and attended the University of Cincinnati, made an emotional plea to try to play for his hometown squad.
'I cried in [Chudzinski's] office and said, 'I will f–king die for this city!'' Kelce told GQ. 'I literally was in tears. I said, 'I'm sorry I'm getting emotional. I grew up down the street. I would f–king do anything to play for the Cleveland Browns.' He looked at me like I was insane. I don't think he'd ever had somebody just pour out their emotions.'
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Kelce was instead taken in the third round by the Chiefs, the team he has played with for his entire NFL career.
He has racked up 10 Pro Bowl and four All-Pro nods and won three Super Bowls as one of the game's greatest tight ends of all time.
As for the Browns, they took linebacker Barkevious Mingo and cornerback Leon McFadden, neither of whom earned a Pro Bowl appearance in their respective careers, though Mingo did win a Super Bowl with the 2016 Patriots.
Rob Chudzinski yells to his players on the sidelines during the Browns' 17-6 home loss to the Bengals on
Sept. 29, 2013.
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Kelce, entering his 13th NFL season, recently said he has moved past Super Bowl 2025's blowout loss to the Eagles.
'I've thrown that thing in the trash,' Kelce told reporters last week.
'I've moved on. It happened sooner than you can imagine. I was pretty focused on this year in the offseason.'
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